ATLANTA — As rumors swirl about Nick Saban considering a return to coaching, his replacement at Alabama is feeling the pressure—on and off the field—heading into Year 2 since succeeding the legend.

“We fell short,” Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer said Wednesday at SEC media days. The Crimson Tide went 9–3 in the regular season and missed the College Football Playoff.

Saban, who led Alabama to six national championships, retired after the 2023 season. At the time, he was the highest-paid coach in college football, with an $11.4 million salary. However, that number has since been surpassed by several coaches. DeBoer is entering the second season of an eight-year, $87 million contract.

On Monday, former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy caused a stir when he said that a “very much in-the-know person” thought Saban, 73, would return to coaching. Saban spent last season working for ESPN, and also made $500,000 in an advisory role for Alabama. 

“The game is better with him involved, and he is involved,” said Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who was defensive coordinator at Alabama under Saban until 2015. “He is passionate about it.”

Can the Tide Roll Again?

DeBoer is tasked with keeping Alabama’s dominant run going as the school tries to keep up with its high-spending rivals, while NIL (name, image, and likeness) money continues to complicate college football.

In December, Alabama AD Greg Byrne released a letter to fans, calling on them “to fight back” and help fund the Crimson Tide’s official NIL collective, Yea Alabama. “A university can succeed if their fans purchase authentic NIL from student-athletes,” Byrne wrote.

On Wednesday, DeBoer credited Byrne’s strategy in the shifting landscape of college sports. “His foresight is critical—going back to when I first got here, a year ago—on what it might look like with it evolving on the evolution of what college athletics looks like today,” DeBoer said.

The 2025 WNBA All-Star Game has hit record-high ticket prices despite the uncertain status of Caitlin Clark, the league’s biggest draw—and the host city’s best player.

According to TickPick, the average purchase price for Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis is $262, which is the highest in the ticketing platform’s records. The game’s get-in price is $121.

The average price is up 84.5% from last year’s All-Star Game in Phoenix ($142) and up 350% from 2023 in Las Vegas ($75). The previous high was $150 in 2022 when the game was held at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

The prices have not seen significant changes since Clark sustained a groin injury during the fourth quarter of the Indiana Fever’s road win over the Connecticut Sun at TD Garden in Boston. On Tuesday afternoon, the average purchase price was $260, and the get-in price was $135.

It’s not clear whether Clark, who has already missed 10 of the Fever’s 22 games this year, will be available for the exhibition. She was the All-Star Game’s leading vote-getter for the second year in a row and is the captain of Team Clark. The Fever will visit the New York Liberty in Barclays Center on Wednesday evening, and Clark is listed as questionable as of Wednesday afternoon.

If Clark is unable to participate in the All-Star festivities, the league may need to find a replacement on short notice. On Tuesday, the WNBA announced Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride as an All-Star replacement for Atlanta Dream wing Rhyne Howard, who is out with a knee injury.

Clark was also set to headline the 2025 WNBA Starry 3-Point Contest, the first three-point shootout of her professional career. The announcement of her participation was made just hours before Tuesday’s game against the Sun. 

ATLANTA — The MLB All-Star Game with the longest lead time in league history is now on the clock. 

With the 2025 All-Star Game events in Atlanta now concluded in dramatic fashion, Philadelphia will be the next event host. The Pennsylvania locale locked down the 2026 game back in early 2019, long before subsequent All-Star Game shifts due to local politics and the COVID-19 pandemic, and before the 2023–2025 hosts of Seattle, Arlington, and Atlanta, respectively, landed their games.

The seven-year run-up is more than twice the typical lead time for the Midsummer Classic, and it is designed to tie into next year’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. What started as a deliberate timing opportunity, though, has moved into active planning, and Phillies staffers shadowed their Braves counterparts this week as the All-Star Game handoff is now happening.

“The extra lead time has helped a lot on all the logistical things like working with the city, getting hotel rooms, figuring out what venues are most viable for our events,” MLB SVP of global events Jeremiah Yolkut tells Front Office Sports. “Starting all of that earlier rather than later is always going to make it easier. For Philadelphia, of course, we’ve also been able to be mindful of the other thematic and yearlong celebrations that are happening in the city alongside All-Star.”

To that end, the theme for next year’s game will tie into Philadelphia’s history and American independence. MLB and the Phillies will also look to have events both in the South Philadelphia sports complex, where Citizens Bank Park is located, and downtown. By next summer, there also could be some early work happening on the forthcoming arena at the sports complex, and the 2026 MLB All-Star Game will also be held soon after FIFA men’s World Cup games at the neighboring Lincoln Financial Field conclude. 

“We’ve had many conversations with FIFA over the last year about the scheduling of what they’re doing prior to the start of the All-Star Game,” Yolkut says. “We look to be good neighbors, and are also working closely with Fox, which is showing both events.”

The more formal countdown to next year will begin Friday with an “All-Star Declaration” event in Philadelphia that will feature a performance by The Roots and appearances by many prominent Phillies alumni. 

To 2027 and Beyond

Decisions on MLB All-Star Games after Philadelphia, meanwhile, are also drawing closer. Chicago’s Wrigley Field, which last hosted this event in 1990, has long been expected to be the 2027 host, and an announcement could arrive later this month. City officials recently approved a series of security enhancements for the Wrigleyville neighborhood that have been deemed critical to the Cubs’ bid. 

As for 2028, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Giants’ Oracle Park could be the host that year, allowing for an easy shift downstate to Los Angeles for the Olympics, should MLB and the MLB Players Association reach an agreement with LA28 organizers for big leaguers to play there. 

The Giants, who last hosted the All-Star Game in 2007, would be jumping the line in a sense over teams such as the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Red Sox that last had the event in the 1990s and are each coveting a return. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred had positive remarks Tuesday about each city’s candidacy, and he noted the length of their respective waits.

“A really significant factor in terms of All-Star Games is, ‘When did you have the last one?’” Manfred said. “It is not the sole determining factor, but it’s a significant one.”